Thanks For The Burnishing Discussion

[Paddler]

Last summer, I bought a box of used artist's supplies at a flea market. I bought it primarily for the paint brushes and water colors, but the lot included a very flexible gold nib in a mother-of-pearl holder. It looked like the nib had had something heavy dropped on it, as the curvature was flattened near the point and the tines were slightly crossed. The tines were crossed too much for a gentle tweak to put right. I puzzled over that nib for most of a year until I read a discussion about burnishing dents out of gold nibs, here in the Nibs and Tines forum. I had been thinking about pounding the dents out of this nib and then you folks came to the nib's rescue.

 

I rounded off the point of a large dental pick and polished it mirror smooth. Then, I held the nib against a piece of leather and began to burnish the edges of the dents. After a couple of hours' work with the burnishing tool and a loupe, the dents nearly disappeared and the tines uncrossed themselves. The nib is a writer, once more. If I hold it in the light just right, I can still see a little wavy reflection, but this is where I will quit. If I go for perfection, I will likely regret it.

 

Thanks for the idea. It worked a treat!

 

 

[Bo Bo Olson]

Good....glad you had the patience.

A lot of folks here know a lot, and are willing to help.